The Chinese are said to see a 50-50 situation
In every crisis: destruction/opportunities.
The way we see and react to situations
Determines the result we get.
Can we keep our cool and use our head
If our house is set ablaze?
What do we do if we see a raging battle
Or hear the rumours of war?
If our young men are quartered
And our future seems hopelessly destroyed,
Do we rush out, unguarded to battle?
And end up in quick annihilation?
When the social media takes its toll
And scared or injured minds find solace
In sharing real or photo-shopped pictures
Of things that happened in the past or present
In this, or some far off land.
When those who are helpless and frustrated
Want to ensure that everything ends in war.
When the scare is bigger than the injury scar.
When people in fear and stampede
Post incoherent and unexplained video clips.
When “it is happening right now”
Is said about what happened
So many days before you saw the video clip.
When you realize that “today” or
Even “Monday” is truly timeless
It could have happened a fortnight ago.
“They have taken them away!
They have taken them away!”
But who are “they”?
When one could die in shock or fear
Only for time to make his fear unreal and
Clearer evidence proves his shock to be false alarm.
When tension, anxiety and a desperate quest
For information exposes us to misinformation.
This kind of crisis is most scary
It has no clear direction or sure source
Ethnic strangulation, religious emasculation,
Liberationist movement, political vendetta
Cowardly and reactionary security aggression.
In this situation, we could use our time
In positive and worthwhile ventures :
Wash/iron clothes, clean up, work out
And “sit at home” becomes a bearable moment
As we watch the tide and clime
So as not to die before our time.
© Anuforo Kingsley A.
